Go! Go! Kokopolo dev talks original Wii/DS retail plans, future DSiWare support
A portion of a Wiitalia interview with Keither Webb, Go! Go! Kokopolo dev...
Wiitalia: Go! Go! Kokopolo was initially intended to be released on both Wii and DS as a retail game, when DSi and its digital delivery system were not announced yet. When did you realize it would have been a better choice to move to DSiWare and how this changed your plans in the matter of contents, development horizon and so on? The technical aspect glaringly shows its indie nature but in terms of contents I can say it wouldn’t have made a poor impression as a full retail title.
Keith Webb: It’s true that it was initially planned as a retail DS game when I decided to actively pursue the project. A couple of issues arose with that, most notably a publisher and a distribution channel. Again, as a more riskier title, many publishers I approached with the initial prototype and design outline were very cautious of committing to the project, which is quite understandable as retail needs a lot more overheads, and therefore they need a pretty certain guarantee that the game would sell. Kokopolo was a new IP, so I guess they didn’t want to take the risk.
What that has done however, is allowed me to have more control over the project as a whole. Perhaps with a big publisher, they might have wanted to change things, and the game might have turned out pretty different!
In the final DSiWare product, it is actually identical to what I wanted the retail one to be, nothing omitted, everything fitted in the game, so that’s good. The only one slight disappointment, is that it would have been nice for me to go into the shops and see a boxed copy on the shelf, but then again, it would have probably would have been sold at a lot higher price, which may have put people off!
Wiitalia: DS installed base is huge, DSiWare has been fairly successful and its games can also be viewed in the 3DS eShop, but the console is in the twilight of its career since the successor has been releasing since March; have you already thought something to be planned for the new handheld device, or will you continue to exploit the knowledge acquired by developing on DS for a little longer?
Keith Webb: I may develop 2 more small DsiWare games, probably just 200 point-ers, but they will be tiny puzzle based games with not too much depth (and would be reflected in the price). Any other games the size of “Go! Go! Kokopolo” and bigger, would be saved for the 3DS. Got an idea for one right now which might be quite cool! And of course, there is always the possibility for a straight-up sequel to Kokopolo for the 3DS, taking into account the higher resolution and larger view field…perhaps on that you could get 100 enemies chasing you at a time!
Wiitalia: Go! Go! Kokopolo was initially intended to be released on both Wii and DS as a retail game, when DSi and its digital delivery system were not announced yet. When did you realize it would have been a better choice to move to DSiWare and how this changed your plans in the matter of contents, development horizon and so on? The technical aspect glaringly shows its indie nature but in terms of contents I can say it wouldn’t have made a poor impression as a full retail title.
Keith Webb: It’s true that it was initially planned as a retail DS game when I decided to actively pursue the project. A couple of issues arose with that, most notably a publisher and a distribution channel. Again, as a more riskier title, many publishers I approached with the initial prototype and design outline were very cautious of committing to the project, which is quite understandable as retail needs a lot more overheads, and therefore they need a pretty certain guarantee that the game would sell. Kokopolo was a new IP, so I guess they didn’t want to take the risk.
What that has done however, is allowed me to have more control over the project as a whole. Perhaps with a big publisher, they might have wanted to change things, and the game might have turned out pretty different!
In the final DSiWare product, it is actually identical to what I wanted the retail one to be, nothing omitted, everything fitted in the game, so that’s good. The only one slight disappointment, is that it would have been nice for me to go into the shops and see a boxed copy on the shelf, but then again, it would have probably would have been sold at a lot higher price, which may have put people off!
Wiitalia: DS installed base is huge, DSiWare has been fairly successful and its games can also be viewed in the 3DS eShop, but the console is in the twilight of its career since the successor has been releasing since March; have you already thought something to be planned for the new handheld device, or will you continue to exploit the knowledge acquired by developing on DS for a little longer?
Keith Webb: I may develop 2 more small DsiWare games, probably just 200 point-ers, but they will be tiny puzzle based games with not too much depth (and would be reflected in the price). Any other games the size of “Go! Go! Kokopolo” and bigger, would be saved for the 3DS. Got an idea for one right now which might be quite cool! And of course, there is always the possibility for a straight-up sequel to Kokopolo for the 3DS, taking into account the higher resolution and larger view field…perhaps on that you could get 100 enemies chasing you at a time!
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